Sanguinary Island
by HarmonyB
Summary: It is agreed Billy-Ray Sanguine will be the one to track Valkyrie down and kill her. But when he takes her to an island, he plans to deal with her HIS way, where she can't escape. Skulduggery is desperate to get his Valkyrie back before it is too late.
1. Chapter 1

**Intro: This is one of a couple Skulduggery Pleasant fan fictions I'm working on. Compared to the others, this one is going to be a short story, just a quick idea that formed in my mind. **

**Synopsis: It is agreed Billy-Ray Sanguine will be the one to track Valkyrie down and kill her. But when he takes her to an island, he plans to deal with her HIS way, where she can't escape. Skulduggery is desperate to get his Valkyrie back before it is too late. Skulduggery/Valkyrie/Billy-Ray.**

**Rated: Right now it's T, but I might have to change it to M for future chapters.**

* * *

Valkyrie Cain sprinted down the long deserted hall ways of the Sanctuary. The electricity had long since gone out and she was running from a murderer in complete darkness. She snapped her fingers every so foot in attempt to summon a flame to illuminate her way. But with every hopeful spark, it snuffed out like a dead candle. Symbols on the walls appeared whenever she tried any magic; the symbols were spells to keep any of the bad guys from making a magical escape. Unfortunately, this time she was considered the bad guy, although she and her partner would highly disagree.

_Where the hell is Skulduggery_, she shouted in her head, cursing herself for being too cocksure in thinking she could take on four cleavers, three Sanctuary workers, two administrators, and a partridge in a pear tree, that being the _real_ bad guy, Billy-Ray Sanguine. While Skulduggery went off to retrieve some ancient magical artifacts from the Sanctuary's Repository, Billy-Ray had stalked after her, as usual, to murder her, as usual, along with a couple of his dangerous buddies to help him out . . . really, there shouldn't be much to worry about, this happens _all_ the time.

But this time was different.

Once the four cleavers were taken down to two by a couple quick fire blasts and roundhouse kicks to the head, the rest of them including the Sanctuary members abandoned her once they figured out where Skulduggery was headed. She hated having to leave him to fight by himself, the two of them always worked together better as a team. It was when she made a bee-line to the Repository to go help him when she discovered she wasn't alone.

Valkyrie rounded a sharp corner, luckily not coming across any Sanctuary workers when she heard it, that crackling sound of stone breaking. Then she tripped, unaware the cracks in the stone were right in front of her feet. She fell, face first, onto the hard stone floor with a grunt, smacking her forehead painfully. A tremor shot through her head on impact, but she paid no attention to it, instead pushing her hands into the ground and flipping herself onto her back. The cracks in the stone had increased and expanded in circumference as it webbed out. Like a bad nightmare, Billy-Ray Sanguine shot up from out of the ground a foot away from where she was laying.

From behind dark sunglasses Valkyrie could see herself mirrored in its reflection, Billy-Ray grinned down at her on the ground. His lips tightened, going taut over his teeth as though he were trying to force back a white toothed grin.

Valkyrie glared up at him from behind dark tresses of hair, "I don't see what's so funny. Usually people get a little angry when someone sets them on fire."

His tight grin slipped a little, and in an instant Valkyrie sparked two fireballs, one in each hand, and forced them at Sanguine. Without looking to see if the fire made contact with him, she spun around on her hands and knees and shot up off the ground, making a run for it.

There was the cracking of stone and SMACK! Valkyrie knocked into Billy-Ray's chest; her nose popped painfully. Billy-Ray wrapped his arms around her, picking her up off the ground to minimize her escape, but when Valkyrie introduced her knee to his thigh, he grunted then pushed her away from him. When she fell again on her back she could feel warm blood dripping from her nose.

_Damn_, she thought, _my nose better not be broken, I don't know how much more lectures I can take from Kenspeckle when he heals _this_ one._

Sanguine let loose a long sigh, and then said with his tight toothed grin returned, "_Phew_, girly, you're hell to catch. I should get a honking gold medal for finally tracking you down."

"Congratulations." Valkyrie replied darkly, thinking about how she was going to get out of this. She pinched her nose tightly between two fingers to minimize the blood flow.

"Oh," He said dramatically, pointing to her nose, "Did I do that? Shoot, that's a ruin of a perfectly good nose right there, that is."

Valkyrie growled up at him, staring at his own nose, wishing she could show it her fist.

He laughed, "Hey, if a bloody nose pisses you off, boy howdy, then you sure gonna have a lot of fun for what I've got planned for you, girly. See here," He pointed to himself, "My boys in the Revengers' Club all agreed I got first dibs on you. Scapegrace also wanted a little bite, but I recon there won't be much left of you when _I'm_ done." He chuckled, taking a step toward her. "I've got a whole schedule lined up for us, full of torture, screams, and terrors."

"Sounds like fun for the whole family." Valkyrie said, scooting away from him on the ground.

"Oh, yeah," Billy-Ray said, licking his lips in anticipation, "loads of fun."

Valkyrie thought a second, searching through her mind for a plan. A dim light bulb went off in her head. She looked over Sanguine's shoulder in sheer terror, showing the whites of her eyes as she pointed behind him with a quivering arm. Billy-Ray spun around to look behind, but the instant his eyes left her, Valkyrie had pushed the air with both her hands and forced him off his feet and against a stone wall.

It was then every light bulb in the Sanctuary went out and the symbols came on, and she was immersed in complete darkness. Without a moment of hesitation she jumped up and sprinted down the hall, mapping in her mind where the Repository was supposed to be.

All the while she ran Valkyrie could hear the occasional crackle of stone where Billy-Ray was moving. But in the pitch dark he couldn't figure out her precise location, especially when confused by the reoccurring echo of her footsteps on the stone walls and ceiling. Thankfully after taking a couple turns around the hallways, the sound of Billy-Ray's movements faded away until all Valkyrie could hear were her hurried footsteps.

It was after she was one more turn away from the Repository when she realized she hadn't come across any Sanctuary members, or cleavers. Where were the cleavers? This place was supposed to be crawling with them. She put it in the back of her mind, thankful to be _actually_ fortunate enough to not have to deal with them. Hopefully it was going to stay that way as she searched for Skulduggery.

Valkyrie was speeding up to a sprint when suddenly she felt as though she ran into a brick wall. But as she screamed, falling backward, the "wall" fell down with her and she realized it was a person.

_Billy-Ray_, she shouted in her mind, _how did he move so quickly? He's just getting better and better, or I suppose worse and worse for _my_ case. _

Not considering how much lighter he weighed while he laid on top of her, she quickly found his shoulders to register where his head was and shot a fist into his face with the power of satisfaction. _God, I've always wanted to do that_, she thought as she imagined Billy-Ray's surprise being punched in the face by a seventeen-year-old girl.

But unexpectedly she heard a familiar voice, "Ow."

Valkyrie gasped. "Skulduggery?"

He coughed, and said, "Nice shot."

"Sorry, I thought you were Billy-Ray Sanguine." She explained.

He pushed himself off Valkyrie and reached a hand out to her blindly in the darkness and helped her up to her feet. He said jokingly, "Don't be silly, my dear, I'm much more handsome." Then he replied more seriously, "Was he alone?"

"As far as I could tell, but I think he brought a couple of his buddies with him."

"Marvelous." Skulduggery sighed. "Well, this should be fun trying to escape."

"Always thinking on the positive side, aren't you?"

"Well, of course, how else can I live with myself?"

"But you aren't living."

"You know what I mean."

"But you aren't." She mumbled.

He sighed again, and then he took her hand in his and guided her down the hallway.

"Did you get the artifact from the Repository?" Valkyrie asked.

"Easy as pie."

"And the cleavers?"

"Not so easy. I knocked a couple of them out; the rest, including the Sanctuary workers, retreated, probably gone to get back up."

"I wish I was there to help you." Valkyrie said.

"Hm, you know I can do quite well by myself."

"Yeah, but I still get anxious leaving you to fight alone."

Skulduggery was silent a moment as he guided her through the darkness. Then he replied gruffly, "It was a very brave thing you did, distracting the Sanctuary members for me. I am proud of you, but understand if it were any other situation I would have never allowed you to deal with them alone."

She shrugged as if to say "It was nothing." But he couldn't see her through the darkness so she mumbled, "It's okay."

Then they heard the familiar crackle of stone breaking.

"_Sanguine_." Valkyrie exasperated.

"Fabulous, time to run," Skulduggery said, pulling her along side him while he broke into a sprint. He was running so fast Valkyrie was nearly swept off her feet, flying over the stone ground, and she grasped his hand tighter.

She felt as they spun around corner after corner, and she wondered how Skulduggery turned each corner in the darkness and she asked, "Do you have any idea where we're going?"

"Uh," He said, paused, "No. But we're underground, so really, there are only so many places we can go. There's bound to be an exit around here somewhere."

Valkyrie groaned, but then Skulduggery suddenly rushed them into a wall which unexpectedly flipped open and sunlight poured in as they went outside. They made it to a back exit that led to an alleyway behind the Waxwork museum the Sanctuary resided under.

Valkyrie looked up at Skulduggery, squinting in the sunlight, "You knew exactly where we were going, didn't you?"

He gave a short laugh, "Of course I did, Valkyrie, I mean _really_."

She resisted the urge punch him square in his skull face that seemed to grin mischievously down at her. But then his posture straightened and he became ridged as he said in a somber voice, "You're bleeding."

She reached a hand up to her face and wiped beneath her nose, when she brought it back it was drenched in crimson.

"It's just a nose bleed." She replied modestly.

"It looks like it might be broken." He said as he raised a glove hand up to her face.

She turned her head away, "Seriously, Skulduggery, I'm fine."

"Valkyrie," He said warningly. "Let me see."

"I'll punch you again if you hurt me." She said, but she gave up reluctantly and winced as he ran his fingers over her nose.

"Ow!" She said when he reached a tender spot. She brought a fist up to swing it at him, but he caught it with his other hand.

"It's not broken, fortunately, but there will be a nasty bruise, that's for sure," He said.

Valkyrie took her fist back from him, and began wiping away the blood with the back of her hand.

"Sanguine did it?" He asked.

She nodded.

"Did he hurt you?"

She shook her head.

"Are you sure? Because you are aware I would have the pleasure of killing him if he did."

She gave him a side smile, raising an eyebrow up at him.

Skulduggery sighed, "Well, anyway, this will be another problem Kenspeckle can handle. He's sure not to be very happy about it, as usual."

"You'd think after almost six years he'd be used to it by now, healing me, case after case."

"He cares about you; you're like a daughter to him. And I understand how he feels seeing you get hurt."

"You can't possibly agree with him, that you shouldn't be taking me with you on the cases."

"All I'm saying is I know what it's like to see people you care about get hurt, that's all." He stood up straighter, adjusting his tie, "I had a family once, too."

Valkyrie suddenly felt her cheeks grow hot, she knew how difficult for Skulduggery it was to think about his family. She felt the need to apologize, but then they heard it again, the cracking of ground like crumbling gravel. The pair spun around, looking for the growing web of cracks.

Skulduggery grabbed her suddenly, spinning her around to the other side of him, because right below her feet the cracks had been forming.

"Run." Skulduggery shouted as he pushed her and they began sprinting in the opposite direction of Sanguine's movement.


	2. Chapter 2

They rounded a sharp corner of the building and headed straight for the Bentley. The cracks in the cement formed continuously at Skulduggery's feet, appearing and reappearing in order to keep up with their running.

Skulduggery swore under his breath, "He's getting better, or worse I should say."

"My thoughts exactly," Valkyrie replied breathlessly, pumping her arms and legs harder so she didn't fall back.

The pair made it to the Bentley, flew into the car, and was screeching over asphalt before Valkyrie could even fasten her seat belt. Skulduggery revved the engine, making it purr with satisfaction and they quickly grew in distance from the Sanctuary.

Valkyrie swiveled in her seat to look out the back window.

"Do you see him?" Skulduggery asked keeping his eye sockets on the road.

"Uh, no," She replied hesitantly. "Hey, Skulduggery."

"Hey, Valkyrie."

"Not to alarm you, but what if I told you we were being chased by a mob of cleavers?"

"I would ask you how that wouldn't be alarming."

"Well, you might want to step on it."

"Right."

Skulduggery jerked his leg forward, forcing in the accelerator to the extreme. The Bentley sped forward and Valkyrie was forced back into her seat.

"About how many cleavers?" He asked.

"I said 'a mob'." She replied, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Perfect. Well, at least William-Raymond Sanguine will be the least of our worries, for now."

"Well, shoot, if I'd a known you didn't want ol' Billy-Ray around, I woulda' just stayed out of the car," said a voice in the back seat.

Valkyrie twisted back around in her seat so fast she pulled the muscles in her neck. Skulduggery's head whipped to the rear view mirror where he saw Sanguine's dark, shiny sunglasses.

"Howdy," the Texan said with a white toothed grin before lunging for Valkyrie in the front seat.

She had her hands ready, fingers splayed which dispersed the air and forced Sanguine back into the rear seat. His head whipped back from the impact, nearly hitting the window and shattering the glass. Valkyrie readied herself to serve him another blow, but he was quick to recover and one hand shot for her throat. Although Skulduggery had made a sharp turn which quickly maneuvered them into the side of the car, Sanguine's grip was unwavering. He wound his other hand in her hair and pulled her out of the front seat and into the back with him. Valkyrie growled at the pain in her scalp.

While Sanguine struggled with her, he spoke up to Skulduggery, "Well, lookie here, it appears you got yerself a real dilemma." He didn't bother to keep the amusement from his voice. "Either you keep the car goin' to avoid them nasty cleavers, or you stop the car to keep me from takin' yer precious Valkyrie."

Skulduggery looked back at them in the rear view mirror and without hesitation he slammed his foot into the brakes.

"Oh, hell," Sanguine muttered and he went flying forward, banging his head on the dashboard. Valkyrie was sprung into the front, as well, but Sanguine's body cushioned the blow and kept her from flying through the front window.

Skulduggery had his revolver drawn from its holster and expertly aimed at the Texan. But with parts of Valkyrie's body covering him, Skulduggery was hesitant to shoot in case he harmed her. That split second of hesitation was all Billy-Ray needed. He wound his arms around Valkyrie and with a wink he disappeared through the floor of the Bentley.

Valkyrie felt the horrific sensation of free falling, and her stomach flew up to her throat. The shattering of gravel crackled in her ears. Once again she could feel gravity working itself against her body, and she felt the warmth of sunlight hit her face. She opened her wincing eyes, and saw the Bentley a couple feet away from where Sanguine had her crushed in his arms.

Billy-Ray was breathing heavily in her ear with excitement. "Come on, now, Mr. Pleasant. Don't you wanna say good-bye to yer girl?"

The driver's side door of the Bentley flew open as Skulduggery raced out.

Valkyrie could hear the wicked smile in his voice as Sanguine continued, "'Cause you ain't gonna see her again."

Skulduggery was charging at them, revolver forgotten, and one gloved hand reached out to Valkyrie. She extended a hand as far away from her as possible under Billy-Ray's grasp, but he held her too close. When the tips of their fingers were inches away from touching, Valkyrie felt herself drop through the ground as though falling out of the sky. She heard Skulduggery shout her name before the mounds of earth closed in over her head.


	3. Chapter 3

I'm sure you would like me to tell you how Valkyrie didn't feel as though she were falling toward hell as Sanguine traveled deeper into the ground. I'm sure you'd like to hear how her muscles didn't ache, her stomach didn't turn, and her skin didn't grow numb to the rush of frozen earth. You'll be pleased to know Valkyrie didn't hear Skulduggery's voice shout her name over and over again like a stuck CD in her head.

But Valkyrie knew more than anything things don't always go the way she wants them to. In fact, they rarely do.

As Valkyrie held onto Billy-Ray's jacket in a death grip, she wanted to swear at him, kick his shins, spit in his face. But with her mouth crushed into the collar of his shirt she demanded to know where he was taking her.

"Now, girly, what's the fun in that?" Sanguine replied simply, and then said no more.

Valkyrie growled in agitation and Billy-Ray chuckled.

They popped up to the surface only once before he brought her to where he was going to bring her - wherever that was. Feeling gravity work against her, Valkyrie knew they were heading toward the sky, and like turning on a light switch the sun appeared. She had only a short glimpse of their surroundings: they were standing on a rocky beach with their toes inches away from the rising tide. She didn't recognize this beach; it wasn't like the one back home in Haggard.

Sanguine looked out to sea. "Almost there," he breathed.

Valkyrie thought she saw him wince in pain. At the sign of weakness she got ready to serve him a blow to the stomach, but they were below the surface before she could adjust herself. Both she and Billy-Ray became steadily drenched and she knew they were traveling below the sea bed. An idea came to Valkyrie that if she broke free from Sanguine it would be easier to move through the wet sand and just swim to the surface. But how far below the surface were they? Every inch they traveled was another ton of water she would need to swim.

If she tried escape she might drown out here in the middle of the sea where no one would be able to find her. The thought made her grip Sanguine's jacket tighter.

The sound of wet sand moving around them made a constant crunch in Valkyrie's ear, but when the sound slowed and changed to a crackle of breaking stone, she knew they were close.

Suddenly the ground no longer surrounded them and Valkyrie felt she could breath freely again. She peeled herself away from Billy-Ray and quickly pushed her palms into his chest. Both were forced away from the other, but not far. Sanguine collided with a stone wall a couple feet away and when Valkyrie whipped around her nose was inches from scrapping the wall parallel. She twirled back around to face Billy-Ray. The Texan was clutching his middle, groaning in pain.

Through clenched teeth he managed to give Valkyrie a smile.

"Where the hell are we?" Valkyrie hissed. She raised her palms up at him threateningly.

Sanguine wagged a finger at her, clicking his tongue. "Language," he laughed, but cut short with another wince. "I know yer anxious to get to fightin' like I am, but little girls need to learn to be patient. You're gonna have to wait till I've got my full strength." He brought a hand up and lamely fingered his sunglasses down an inch so Valkyrie saw the holes of his eyes. Then he winked and said, "And then it's playtime."

Without breaking eye contact Sanguine stepped back and dissolved into the stone wall with a crack. Valkyrie watched as the cracks in the stone webbed outward. She looked around her confinement, seeing it greatly resembled a cell in the Sanctuary jail. In a corner of the wall she was nearest was a heavily bolted steel door.

As she stepped closer to the door a small voice in her head spoke, "You're _really_ going to try to open the door? Are you serious? You know it's locked." A couple feet away now she raised a hand toward the door. "Oh my god, you _are_ serious. You are _actually_ going to try the door, this is insane. You're crazy to even think this door might be unlocked." Valkyrie wound her hand around the cold metal handle. "This is hilarious. Now I'm actually curious to see what happens. Go ahead, try and open it."

Valkyrie turned the handle.

Surprise.

It was locked.

"Damn," she sighed.

* * *

Skulduggery stood over the cracks where Valkyrie disappeared, cursing, but quickly spun around to see if he could spot Sanguine further down the road. Unfortunately there was nothing else on the street except him, the Bentley, and the lovely horde of Cleavers racing toward him in a large white van. He sprinted back to the car, opened the trunk, and rummaged for the box of bullets for his Smith & Wesson revolver. When all chambers were full he clicked the cylinder shut with a flick of the wrist and turned to face the Sanctuary army. One hand went to his jacket pocket to grasp his cell phone and he speed-dialed Tanith's number.

His thoughts were on Valkyrie as the white van came to a screeching halt to avoid crashing into the Bentley. She could fight her own fight, he knew that, but wherever she was, it was a rarity he wouldn't be there to come to her aid which was necessary for Valkyrie on an alarming scale. And Billy-Ray Sanguine wasn't just _any_ bad guy; he wasn't an old fashioned villain with a hankering to take over the world. He had a rage . . . and a really unattractive scar on his midsection. A scar made by a certain troublesome, rebellious, defiant young woman who was the base of Sanguine's grudge, and if she somehow loses the fight and Skulduggery can't reach her in time, she'll be killed.

_I wonder if Sanguine has ever traveled deep enough in the ground to reach hell_, Skulduggery thought, _because it's going to be_ nothing _compared to when_ I _deal with him_.

Skulduggery counted each Cleaver as they piled out of the white van. _One, two . . . seven, how flattering, the whole gang's here_, Skulduggery thought as he saw Detective Marr jump out of the van followed by Pennant. He thought about leaning back on the Bentley with arms crossed lamely as though enjoying the sunshine. But his partner was gone. He wasn't in the mood to joke around.

Marr looked Skulduggery over with a ruthless eye as the Cleavers circled him. They didn't attack. Not without Marr's permission. The somewhat beautiful woman held a hand out to Skulduggery, palm open.

"Give me the artifact, Pleasant," she said. Her voice was a sugar-coated razor blade.

Skulduggery tilted his head to the side. "Artifact? I'm sorry to say I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't fool with me. I'm the one with an army." She said an edge to her voice. Skulduggery spun around dramatically as though just noticing the Cleavers for the first time. "And what do you have? A toy pistol."

Skulduggery snapped his gloved fingers, summoning a flame, "I don't know about that."

Marr arched a pencil thin eyebrow. "You're really going to battle seven Cleavers with a couple magic tricks? Wouldn't it just be easier to hand over the device you stole from Sanctuary property? Or do you enjoy death?"

Skulduggery shrugged, "Well, I _am_ a skeleton."

"But with one nod of the head I can order all seven Cleavers to shred that cheap suit of yours-"

"Cheap," Skulduggery muttered, insulted.

"-and break your every bone." Marr's eyes darkened, her short cropped hair shadowing her face.

"It sounds like fun, truly," Skulduggery said, sliding his revolver into the holster beneath his jacket. "And I wish I could stick around to watch the shock on your face to see me win this battle, but I was a little busy before you rudely interrupted. You know, busy . . . busy escaping." He stopped and waited, saying nothing.

There was an awkward silence as every eye watched him stand there motionless. The Cleavers clothes swayed a bit in the soft breeze, but they otherwise remained statuesque. Marr's mouth hung open slightly.

"Yep," Skulduggery said after infinity of silence. "Any time now." A cat meowed in an alleyway nearby. "_Any_ time-"

Then Fletcher Renn suddenly appeared at Skulduggery's side. The young man grasped Skulduggery's shoulder before the two of them vanished from the circle of Cleavers.

Detective Marr swore under her breath and pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh. "Why do I let that man talk? He just goes on and on and it always ends the same."

For once Pennant spoke up, "Did you notice?"

Marr looked up, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "The Cain girl. She's gone."

"Sanguine's done his job well."

Marr sighed again, watching as a couple Cleavers went searching through Skulduggery's car while the others went back to the van. "At least there's that. I hate working with the man, but he's sure resourceful, that ability of his."

"And his hatred for Valkyrie Cain."

Marr nodded. The Cleavers that searched the car left with nothing as they joined the others in the van. She looked at her partner. "Give Sanguine a week or two, Pennant." She turned to climb back into the white van. "Then send someone over to the island to retrieve her body."


End file.
